


Stars Fall Home

by Beltenebra, snoozingkitten



Category: Arashi (Band), Firefly, Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band), Tackey & Tsubasa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Genetic Engineering, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Space Pirates, Swearing, Threesome - M/M/M, Zero-gravity sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 01:30:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7146620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beltenebra/pseuds/Beltenebra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoozingkitten/pseuds/snoozingkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People have done great and terrible things in the name of science -- Koyama is one of those things. How far will two men go to protect the single most dangerous being in the entire galaxy? Hopefully far enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars Fall Home

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for je_devilorangel 2011 by team 'In the Name of Science' which is comprised of myself and the delightful snoozingkitten. She is a very inspiring and charming writing partner. :3

Ryo had a small constellation of marks across his collar bones, spilling like shooting stars across his shoulders too, he generally didn’t notice them, but when he wore a loose-shirt they winked at Shige. When no one was looking Shige would touch them, dancing his fingers over the skin and sneaking under the edges of Ryo’s favourite cotton shirt. Ryo would usually grumble at him, swatting his hands away like Shige was annoying him.

Only when they are alone Ryo stretched out, somehow making his slight frame expand until it filled up the whole bed, lounging like no one else Shige had ever met. When Shige ran his fingers over collarbone and shoulders then Ryo would arch a little into it, looking at him with sleepy-dark eyes. Okay so maybe Shige had woken him up with it, scratching his short nails across the dip of Ryo’s collar bone. He couldn’t sleep and why suffer insomnia on his own? 

Ryo was all sleepy and oddly pliant, moving where Shige pushed him, normally Ryo was contrary just to piss him off. It sent a thrill down his spine, pushing Ryo down the bed and he went willing, staring up at Shige with the faintest echo of his normal smirk. It was his ‘ _blow me_ ’ smirk. Shige had a better idea. 

"Ah." Ryo gasped wetly against his thigh, his feet were shifting across the bed like he couldn’t quite keep them still. "Fuck. Just—wait." He hissed, words bitten off, and nails digging into Shige’s hips.

"Ouch, you asshole." Shige hissed, his jaw was sore, and his hips ached from trying not to crush Ryo under him.

"Just, wait for it."

Shige pressed a kiss to the inside of his thigh, humming low in his chest. Ryo pet the skin he had scratched, and if Shige didn’t know him better he would think it was an apology. But if there was one thing Ryo was good at it was keeping track of time, they paused just breathing each other in sex and sweat and the slightly chemical taste of recycled air. Shige was almost holding his breath, feeling Ryo tense under him.

There was a soft click, echoing from everywhere at once, and the artificial gravity disengaged, it was deepest part of the night cycle and usually people were fast asleep. It was an energy saving mechanism for longer flights. Without the covers to hold them in place Ryo twisted, pushing up off the bed with one leg and Shige hissed when Ryo’s momentum squished them together propelling them slowly into the middle of the room, free floating. They were drifting slowly towards the ceiling and eventually Shige was going to run into it, it wasn’t very far but they were drifting without much momentum.

Ryo was a kinky little bitch, and he loved this bit. The floating bits where he could pull his legs and arms anywhere and Shige was just glad he didn’t need to worry about crushing him anymore, or accidentally suffocating him with his balls when they sixty-nine. Ryo had once mused to him about what a wonder it was that people even _had_ the karma sutra before there was zero-gravity.

Shige honestly could care less as long as he got off.

Ryo’s fingers were digging into his hips and they were spinning in the air, Ryo’s legs kicking out until he caught one of his thighs.

"Last time we did this, there was come _everywhere_." Shige said in the blandest tone he could manage.

Ryo laughed, soft puffs of warm air against his tummy. "I’ll try to be careful."

"You say that every time." The words were muffled by Ryo’s thigh. They twisted in midair for a few moments until everything slotted into perfect place, Shige’s hands on Ryo’s ass holding him in place and Ryo’s fingertips pressing hotly into his thighs, little places of sensation where there was nothing else. Then they couldn’t argue anymore because he was taking the wet head of Ryo’s cock in his mouth, licking at just the tip and feeling Ryo shiver under his hands.

He was already hard, Ryo had been teasing him for the past whoever knows how long, just waiting for the cycle to kick in, pressing his lips down the side, playing with the weight of his balls and dragging his teeth over the soft place where his leg met his body. Investigating like he didn’t suck Shige’s dick regularly.  
    
Shige tongued the underside, listening to the soft muffled sound he pulled from Ryo.

Normally this was where Ryo would start talking, low voice like it had to be dragged out of him, spilling filthy comments all over. A running commentary. Of course now his mouth was full and Shige was hard pressed to choose which was worse. Ryo’s mouth was hot and slick, mouthing lewdly all over the head and the only thing he didn’t like about this position was that he couldn’t watch. Couldn’t see Ryo’s slim shoulders pushing between his thighs smirking up at him completely confident that he was about to reduce Shige to a gasping, wet mess of a person.

Shige struggled to remember to breathe, taking shuddering breaths through his nose at irregular intervals as Ryo’s hands were everywhere, pressing warm against his hips, his thighs, his ass. Ryo was slightly smaller than him, shorter, fitting neatly into the curve of his body; all wrapped around each other. Like those Celtic knots out of the history books.

Ryo whined, and it shook Shige all along the length of his vertebrae and he moaned, the sound trapped in his chest. And yeah, okay fine, less thinking, more blowing, sucking, whatever. The angle wasn’t good for Shige, tipping his head forward closing off his throat and making the head of Ryo’s cock threaten to gag him, but that didn’t mean a damn thing because Ryo was wide open, swallowing him down (they had practiced that for a very long time) and making these _sounds_ like he would die if Shige didn’t fuck his throat. Only there was nothing purchase, no momentum, only Ryo and Shige, and the silky inside of his mouth. He had to just take what Ryo wanted to give him, pulling and pushing at each other.

Shige had to stop because he was going to come, could feel it building like a tidal wave roaring in his ears. Pressing his face against Ryo’s thigh, saliva free-floating from his lips in thin strands that connected them.

"Ryo." He grunted, and Ryo pressed his hands against his ass, pulling him closer, his throat tight around the head of his cock and that was it. Shige came with a strangled sound, toes curling and shivering through the pulses of it. Ryo didn’t let him down easy, backing off a little, but only to tongue the head, chasing it by pressing his tongue against the slit and Shige jerking, hissing because it was too much and fuck, Ryo _knew_ that.

"Stop." Shige said, and his voice sounded thick and raspy, not like him at all. "It’s enough."

"Pussy." Ryo said, Shige’s voice was bad, Ryo’s was completely ruined, cracking even around the one word.

"Bitch." Shige said back automatically, and he could feel Ryo’s smirk against his thigh.

"Wall." Ryo said just as Shige’s skull hit the ceiling with a dull thud the rest of him colliding in slow motion, Ryo squishing against his chest.

"Thanks." Shige muttered, but there was no heat in it, he was too lazy and sated, and it wasn’t like it did any real damage. "Come here."

Ryo used the wall and Shige to shift himself around, spinning in lazy slow motion, twisting and arching in Shige’s arms sleek and naked. They kicked off back towards the bed, momentum inching them slowly back. Shige hugged Ryo’s thighs, petting up his lower back as Ryo curled around his head, wrapping around him as best they could. It was almost suffocating, nowhere to go, and every breath he took was just more Ryo. Shige honestly couldn’t be happier, pressing in closer, opening his mouth around the head of Ryo’s dick again, it wouldn’t take long, he was so hard, foreskin pulled back shiny and flushed.

Ryo’s bitten, chewed-off nails raked down his back and across the back of his neck, blurred lines of heat, almost-not-quite pain. Shige twisted under it, rubbing his tongue across the sensitive underside. It was getting harder to breathe and he was going to need to shove Ryo off of him.

Then he was making that growling sound, trembling, and the muscles in his thighs were getting tighter, tensing. Shige pressed as deep as he could, letting his nose hit Ryo’s flat tummy. The slow drag up was what undid Ryo. He came with a low whine that echoed everywhere. Sticky and warm in Shige’s mouth. He wasn’t good at this part, swallowing with his mouth already full. Without gravity it was even harder to push it to the back of his mouth, he tried. He really did.

Only he was coughing, pulling back and they were closer to the bed now, Ryo hit it and bounced and Shige was coughing, spitting all over himself and it was like some sort of reverse come shot, surface tension making it stick to his face.

"I hate you." Shige wheezed.

Ryo was laughing too hard to answer him, kicking off the ceiling to rub his back as his lungs struggled to work.

When Shige woke up the next morning, overly tired but that was his own fault really, Ryo was sitting cross-legged next to him at the head of the bed wearing some clingy underwear that were probably actually Shige’s and that loose cotton shirt again. He was flicking something on screen and scowling at it. 

Ryo was unbearably cute when he scowled like that, the skin between his eyebrows getting all wrinkly.

"What time is it? It can’t be time to get up yet." He rolled onto his side looking at Ryo, only the light from his datapad lighting up his face. "Ryo? What’s wrong?"

"It’s." Ryo tapped the screen, swiped a few pages down, frown only getting deeper. "Well." A few more taps and the lights came up. According to the clock it was really early standard time, which meant they hadn’t missed breakfast yet, Massu was cooking today and he was the only one of their band of merry men besides Ryo himself (whom hated cooking, and he was captain dammit, he didn’t need to cook and if you didn’t agree he was more than happy to dump your ass) who could make anything half-decent.

"What the fuck man?" Came a tinny voice from the screen, and Ryo must have pulled the lights up across the ship.

"Change course, we’ve got a new job."

Only Ryo didn’t look happy about this one. Usually he was much more delighted about the prospect of work, and keeping them fed. 

Shige eventually found out why when Ryo snarled, threw the datapad on the bed and stormed off to take his anger out on something that wouldn’t hit him back.

The letter was from Akanishi. Well that explained a lot.

\--

There were a million ways the plan could go wrong. Jin had probably only thought of about half of them. He’d given up at about the fourth time his plan ended up with him in front of the firing squad. That was by far the kindest way he had imagined his own death.

At least one of them involved getting his spine ripped out by aliens (there was no such thing as aliens, not in these parts, but hey, it was plan B) and the other involved him being spaced, sucked right out into the great nothingness and being very dead.

Jin would rather not be dead.

So he went with the one plan that seemed to have the highest chances of him getting out of all of this alive. And to think, Maru used to accuse him of being sloppy with his methodology, well Maru would be proud of this plan, all the ways he has thought ahead. Only he couldn’t tell Maru because it wasn’t in the plan. Generally speaking it wasn’t helpful to tell someone you were going to stab in the back about said back stabbing, it was all very non-conducive to the part of the plan where he secretly betrayed Maru and the entirety of the United Sol space fleet. It was part of the strategy. 

Jin was sitting on top of the box, and they were in the middle of the desert, well it was just outside a base built under the sand and rock. On a planet that for all intents and purposes looked too unstable to have such a facility. Area 551. Just a man and his box.

Everything was laid, all his little traps and pitfalls. Faked ID coded, and a shipment of toilet paper and particle accelerator parts that was supposed to come in today was actually coming in tomorrow, the code wasn’t too hard to write. This left him tapping his heels on the box and watching the sky. The sun was baking, and was it too much to ask of his plan that Ryo show up on time? He tipped his hat lower and worked on keeping the anxiety bottled up.

It was like Maru was in his ear, a little worry-wart voice, yammering. You look into a void too long and the void looks into you --the unofficial motto of the deep space colonization program—you work too long with Maru and Maru becomes a part of you. Just when he was going to turn to pacing to fizzle some of the endless energy buzzing under his skin he spotted it. 

The speck in the distance grew, and Jin relaxed marginally when the defence systems didn’t pop out and shoot it out of the sky. So far so good. He lounged until the ship landed. Small skippy, but it looked like it would hold together. It would need to.

"You miserable son of a bitch." Ryo snapped at him, barely waiting for the loading ramp to lower completely before he was stalking down the ramp with a gun trained on him, and Jin wondered what it said about his life that it wasn’t all that odd. Jin just smiled at him, watching the sun glint off the barrel. If this were a movie this was where he would tip his hat down, but he drew the line at that level of theatrics. 

"It’s been awhile." He agreed. Not a lot of time.

"Tell me why I shouldn't just blow your fucking head off right now?" Ryo snarled at him, and he looked _livid_. Too bad Jin had used up the angel on his shoulder a long time ago. Nothing left to do about it.

"Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to make it that easy for you?"

"Almost worth the risk." Ryo hissed.

Jin had a past, a past with the network, with Ryo. A few other shady things. Anyways, he was supposed to have gotten rid of all the evidence, only you never know when you will need something like that for something like this. That was the nature of shady dealings. 

"Well, how about this then," not a lot of time, "if you _don’t_ do what I ask, then I will put out an arrest warrant on someone in your crew. Pick someone. I dare you. If you kill me now, they are going to shoot your rust bucket right out of the sky, there are timers on my hacks, you should know that by now." 

" _Fuck you,_ what the hell do you want Jin?"

Well it was crude, but it would work. His plans had needed to be jumped a little forward. There wasn’t any time left for being nice. Jin has destroyed people in the past, and he was not above doing it again. Ryo should know this. 

"Ryo." The other man was tall, sort of waifish in a way that probably turned Ryo on, he always did have a soft spot for strays. "Their scanners are trying to pick us up."

"They think you’re delivering toilet paper, you’ve got another ten minutes or so." Jin shrugged. "Someone probably wants to take a shit or something. You must be Shige, pleasure."

Shige stared at him; Jin just shrugged, hopping off the box. Who Ryo was fucking hadn’t been his business for a long time. He was just so tired now. There were some beach planets on the outer fringes, he would be safe there, free at last from this awful game. Once all the money was settled he could live like a fucking _King_ and be away from everything. Enough liquor and maybe he could even live with himself. Ah well, he’d worked past that point with enough tequila and girls in bikinis. This way he didn’t need to see the moment when Maru realized just what Jin had done. He wasn’t man enough to handle that and he knew it.

"I need you to deliver this for me. I’ll transfer two hundred thousand for fuel and your time; once I get confirmation it was delivered. Until then, remember I can bring them down on you at any time. So don’t fuck it up."

"Jin--"

"And do be careful, it’s fragile. The address is on the box."

"Jin." He was working on the ‘big exit’ part of his plan, but paused, something in Ryo’s voice. "Couldn’t you just ask me?"

"You’re landed on the most top secret base in the galaxy," not strictly true, if there was one more secret, then Jin didn’t know because, well it was a secret. "One doesn’t just _ask_."

If he could get to his ship fast enough he could fly out under the radioactive signal of Ryo’s ship and use it as a diversion to get away. Listening as Ryo shouted and stomped about angrily, loading the crate onto the ship, there were a few bags there to throw him off, one filled with shredded paper and the other canned tuna. Ryo hated canned tuna and it just seemed like a fitting gift. It was only there to buy him time anyways.

Everything was going according to his plan, god help them all.

\--

They made it nearly a week without cracking open Akanishi's shipment. Ryo had clearly not wanted to talk about anything having to do with the job or Jin or just why it was that Ryo was still apparently willing to let the man blackmail him and contrary to popular belief Shige was not foolish enough to ask.

It didn't keep him from wondering though. What it was that could be packed into that box, _definitely_ bigger than a bread box, that Akanishi wanted off the base badly enough to risk so much. Even though Ryo had made it painfully clear to Shige and the rest of the crew that he had no intention of investigating the contents Shige had caught Ryo sneaking speculative glances at the unassuming exterior more than a few times.

The box just sat there, its sleek brushed-steel surface crisscrossed by the black mesh securing it in place. Some kind of strange space driftwood caught up in their nets and tossed on board. A few times Shige woke up in the middle of the sleep cycle, not like he had been dreaming, just found himself suddenly awake with the potential contents of that stupid box the only conscious thought in his brain.

Day six and Shige sat bolt upright in their bunk. A quick glance down at the floor confirmed that Ryo was gone. He could have been in the head but then he wouldn't have taken his boots. Shige heaved a sigh and made his way down to the cargo bay in the dark, the walkways, staircases, and halls all familiar enough to walk by memory.

Ryo was sitting on the crate of canned tuna that he wouldn't let them open because he hadn't wanted the 'whole damn ship to smell like fish-butt'. He had the low lights on in the bay and an expectant look on his face when he raised his chin to meet Shige's eyes.

"About damned time. I was waiting for you."

It shouldn't have meant so much but Shige couldn't help the jolt to his system, the almost painful thump of his heart when Ryo did or said something that made him feel like they were partners. That he wasn't still just some awkward, smart-ass kid who got in the way and couldn't be trusted to keep himself safe, let alone others.

The other man gave him a small, fierce smile like he could read Shige's mind. "I changed my mind. Let's find out exactly what we're risking our fine asses for."

Shige grinned back, quick and bright before they both settled back into potential danger mode. Once they had the box all unwrapped, all that was left was to pop the latch, they both found themselves hesitating.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, whatever it is, it can't be that bad," Ryo muttered and nudged the catch open so they could raise the solid lid together.

It hissed as it depressurized, the contents were obscured for a few moments by some kind of mist that looked like a cheap party trick with dry ice. But it couldn't have been anything like cheap because it cleared to reveal a very sophisticated instrument panel covered in blinking lights and various numbers that Shige assumed were related to the man tucked into a fetal position.

"Fuck."

Ryo's sharp curse echoed Shige's inner monologue perfectly.

The man took a deep, shuddering breath and hauled himself more upright. A part of Shige's mind registered the nearly identical clicks his and Ryo's guns made as they whipped them out and trained them on the box.

He had long limbs, Shige noted absently as the man arranged them so he could sit up. Long, tan legs and golden brown hair and dark, almond-shaped eyes. He was very pretty and Ryo was going to be beyond pissed. He wasn't really a big fan of human trafficking.

The man looked up at them, vaguely puzzled but calm like he was doing calculations in his head. A second later he seemed to arrive at a conclusion.

"This is not the lab."

"No, it most definitely is not," Ryo spat out. Shige could feel his partner practically vibrating with anger but he didn't get the feeling it was directed at the man in front of them, though anyone in the near vicinity was a potential casualty of overspill.

"What's your name?" Shige cut in quickly before the cursing started.

He had a nice voice, soothing, pleasantly modulated tones like he was perfectly comfortable and wanted to put everyone else at ease too. "Mostly I was referred to as Koyama. But I think a long time ago someone used to call me Keiichiro."

"You don't seem very upset for a man who just woke up in a box on his way to god knows where."

He smiled at Ryo, just a gentle curve of pretty pink lips. And despite the way it looked, the gorgeous, naked man in a box, Shige's gut was screaming that he wasn't a normal pleasure slave. Not anywhere close.

"I'm used to not having a lot of freedom. I assume that I am here for a reason."

Koyama stood up and stretched, completely unfazed by his own nudity or their guns. Ryo blushed, the stripe of pink across his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose barely visible in the dim glow of the night lights before averting his gaze and muttering something about some selfish asshole's reasons.

Shige just narrowed his eyes, one of the man's first words bouncing around in his brain like a stray radar signal, setting off all kinds of alarms. "What kind of lab exactly?"

"Oh, I'm a genetic experiment. Most likely a top secret one." He dropped the information casually in their laps with a small shrug much like someone might admit 'I'm a natural blond'.

Ryo punched the comm link on his chest and snarled for Taguchi to get his ass to the medical bay immediately if not sooner. "Ok, Koyama or whoever you are. I'm Nishikido, this is Kato. This is my ship and until I figure out what the hell is going on you are going to do what I say. Starting with a full med scan. I want to know if you are rigged to explode and take my crew with you."

Shige nodded, feeling strangely calm. Maybe this was what the other side of crazy felt like. "I don't want to explode."

Koyama just smiled and nodded and stepped slowly and gracefully out of the box, hands held up in front of him in the universe gesture of 'I'm not at all threatening'. He padded quietly along between them through the dark nighttime halls of the ship.

Taguchi was waiting for them in the medical bay, sleepy and rumpled, the shine of his perpetual cheer dimmed but not extinguished. "Hey, Ryo-chan what's- ah, a visitor?" His raised eyebrows indicating exactly how shady he thought the naked stranger turning up unannounced and being escorted around at gunpoint was. And Taguchi had seen some pretty shady things since he signed on with them.

Ryo nodded and gestured for Koyama to sit on the exam table. "You, tell us everything you know that is relevant." He turned to the medic. "You, do a full scan. Pay particular attention to the brain."

"Your wish, my command, captain."

Taguchi busied himself flipping switches, the low familiar hum of machinery filling in the awkward space between them.

Koyama settled himself on the table, crossing his legs and resting elegant hands on his knees. "I have lived in the lab for just about as long as I can remember. I suspect, although I can't confirm, that it's a government facility. I have an advanced education although there are very large gaps in current events, politics, and interpersonal relations."

He paid no attention to Taguchi flitting around him, waving various instruments over his body and murmuring to himself about whatever showed up on his screen until Taguchi got out the neural scanner. Then he stopped and tensed a bit as the beam traveled down from the crown of his head, tawny locks momentarily glowing green.

"Yeah, definitely something odd here, captain. Someone has been rummaging around here, someone with a delicate touch though. This is crazy advanced work. Do you know what they did to you?"

"Mostly, I can move things."

A moment or two of silence. Ryo's brow furrowed and Shige blurted out what they must all be thinking. "Move things?"

Koyama looked over at a very large book on the desk across the bay and narrowed his eyes a tiny bit. The book rose up smoothly and sailed over their heads, landing next to him with a small thump.

Taguchi whistled low and impressed.

Ryo twitched a bit. "Can you move bigger things?"

The other man responded by lifting the very surprised medic two feet off the ground before setting him back down gently.

Taguchi let out an excited whoop. "Ok, that was awesome. And if you're going to be magicking me around with mind bullets you have to call me Junno. It's a rule."

Koyama just grinned back.

"Ok, here's what's going to happen. Taguchi, you keep scanning him. The full work-up, ok? Shige and I need to talk," Ryo commanded brusquely before hauling Shige over to the far side of the room.

The mysterious passenger and Junno started chatting, settling instantly into comfortable conversation.

"Shit, Ryo. What are we going to do?"

Ryo gave him a rueful little grin. "I was kind of hoping you would have one of your brilliant ideas."

"Let's review the facts shall we? He seems friendly but god knows what is going on in his _genetically altered_ head. He's escaped from a top secret government facility and he has telekinetic powers of unknown magnitude."

"And a government traitor wants us to deliver him somewhere," Ryo added helpfully.

"Yeah," Shige muttered darkly, "can't possibly be anywhere good."

"We can't exactly just knock him out and stuff him back in the box. Well, we could, I suppose. But Junno probably wouldn't be happy.

Shige looked over to see Koyama and the medic chuckling together, getting on like a house on fire. Koyama caught his eye and smiled, "Junno is hilarious. None of the medics who worked on me were even close to this amusing."

"Yes, well. My mother always told me that I would be a doctor or a comedian. Either was I was going to have people in stitches."

Both Shige and Ryo rolled their eyes, far too used to Taguchi's humor.

"So, Koyama, I don't suppose there is anywhere you would like us to take you," Shige asked hopefully.

He shook his head, pretty much what Shige had expected. "I couldn't even say exactly where I came from."

"Right. So you'll stick with us for the time being. I won't put you back in the box." Koyama beamed at Ryo and he and Shige both blinked a few times under the onslaught before Ryo schooled his face back into a stern expression. "But that doesn't mean I trust you. You don't get the run of the ship, you'll have to stick with a crew member at all times. No contacting anyone outside of the ship. And no throwing things around with your brain."

Koyama agreed readily and Ryo nodded like he expected full compliance. He seemed perfectly confident but Shige could tell he was nervous as hell. Shige had no clue how planned to enforce the last one but hey, Koyama seemed easygoing enough. Maybe he would just follow orders. Shige sighed quietly, suddenly completely exhausted. They were probably doomed.

–

Speaking with Koyama at first seemed to be a lot like talking to a pleasant but over-all bland AI. It answered questions with a soft voice and infinite patience, but essentially boiled down to a really advanced voice mail. Reminded him of being a little kid and getting frustrated because he couldn’t find his mom and the mall AI wouldn’t tell him where she was. 

They all liked him enough, and why wouldn’t they? Maybe that was another one of his super powers? Pheromones, or something like that. Wasn’t there this cosmetic company a few years back? A rather morally dubious experiment gone wrong, an entire floor of biochemists reduced to simpering sex toys. Their stocks had surprisingly gone up after that, and if Shige needed another reason to give up on normal people, wasn’t that just the greatest?

Sometimes Koyama would look up, soft eyes and a vague smile, like he could read your thoughts and Shige seriously hoped he couldn’t because— best not to think about it just in case.

Ryo was the only one who predictably and stubbornly refused to warm up to their guest. He spent his time scowling at Koyama’s pretty face. God help him, Shige thought it was cute. He had thought it was cute when they first met and Shige hadn’t known what it was like to be kissed within an inch of his life, and then he had just thought Ryo was a massive prick. One of many reasons he’d landed on this particular bucket of metal flying through space. The rest of it was history.

He was on Koyama-sitting duty that morning, meaning he had to go to his room and unlock it. Koyama would ask him a million and one questions until Shige gave him something to do; right now he was happily flicking through the subspace network. You could find _anything_ on the subspace network, and Shige had manually shut down their transmitting ability, they were trying to fly under the radar here after all. That generally meant no facebook of any kind. 

Besides, Shige felt a little bad for him, it seemed that Koyama had literally been living under a rock for a long time, being _built_ or whatever it was they were doing to him down there. He wasn’t too sure on the specifics and when asked for more details Koyama kind of squinted at him and asked in that pleasant even tone ‘do you remember being born?’ Well that made a certain amount of twisted sense. He had a mental image of a bunch of shadowy scientists in blood stained lab coats laughing as they dove elbow-deep into cadavers, sewing the parts together like a crazed techno-version of Dr. Frankenstein. 

"Shige."

"Hm?" He’d been staring at that little patch of the skin, where Koyama’s long neck flowed into his shoulders and his t-shirt didn’t quite meet the crop of his hair. Innocent curiosity of course.

"There is something showing on the long range sensors," Tsubasa frowned, tapping the screen absently with the edge of his finger. "It’s," he paused, "difficult to tell at this range, could be debris, or it could be something bigger."

"Keep an eye on it." He nodded at the screen, and Tsubasa rolled his eyes, making it obvious just what he thought of Shige’s ‘orders’.

"Oh, and here I was planning on flying right _into_ it."

Shige scowled. "Koyama, come on." At least Koyama obeyed him. 

Shige wondered if it was improvement or just hanging out in the engine room with Massu too much, that resulted in the almost-pout Koyama shot him as he closed the interface with subspace.

"I really like the windows." Koyama said, completely unrelated to anything else, as they were making their way towards the back of the ship where Ryo would probably be.

"There isn’t anything out there."

Space, it was breathtaking the first time. Impossible to imagine such a huge expanse, so much emptiness. It stretched on into forever, but really after that it just looks the same over and over.

"Everything is out there, the whole galaxy is out there."

"Technically it is everywhere." Shige frowned, and Koyama just beamed at him.

Ryo had his feet kicked up on his desk. He cracked one eye open, looking at the pair of them in the door way.

"You look comfy." Shige said and grinned at him and Ryo shrugged with his eyebrows, as if he couldn’t be bothered to follow through with the rest of the motion.

"I always meant to put a lazy-boy in here."

"You would never get anything done around here if you did." Ryo frowned at him but didn’t deny it. They both knew that it was true. "Lazy bastard."

"Fuck off." Ryo flipped him off and Shige returned the gesture. It was their own way of showing affection, some people hold hands. Ryo tells Shige to fuck off and die, and Shige knows what he really means. It was like a code or something, code for Ryo’s stupid inability to ever talk about anything important. Sometimes he thought that Ryo was never hugged as a child and as a result was sort of tragically emotionally stunted. 

"Captain." The sound in here was a little tinny, the wires were old, but they worked. "There is another ship approaching us fast."

Ryo swore, and he was pulling himself out of his sprawled position, meeting Shige’s eyes for a moment, amusement fading into snapping itensity. Sometimes Ryo would laze about in their bed watching bad television on the subspace, usually completely naked, Shige was mostly sure Ryo only did that to piss him off. And sometimes he was like this, sharp and focused. Shige had sort of fallen in love with his bipolarism. Well at least Tsubasa had his eye on it. 

"If this has anything to do with you." Ryo tossed a glare over his shoulder, and Koyama was still on Shige’s heels. "So help me, I will drop your ass on the nearest moon, locked back in your box." Quieter, grumbled, "See if I care if there is an atmosphere or not."

Shige tried not to smile, they were going into a potentially dangerous situation after all, but he couldn’t help it.

"Shige?" Koyama touched his shoulder lightly, just the flutter of his fingertips over the material of his vest. He paused, they were in the small hallway leading to the cockpit, and Ryo was already storming ahead.

"What is it?" Shige asked, wondering what on earth he could possibly want _right now_. Koyama ticked his head to the side, and he wasn’t so much like a robot anymore, he was curious, he was like Pinocchio turning into a real boy. Hopefully that didn’t make him the fairy godmother in this awful metaphor.

"Does Shige have a room?"

"Well." He paused, trying not to get flustered. It wasn’t really a secret, but Shige was used to people just assuming what he did on the ship. "It’s." What the hell even, they didn’t have time for this. 

Koyama blinked at him, and the very corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, like he was enjoying watching Shige squirm, and that shouldn’t even be possible. He was going to need the limit the exposure to Junno if Koyama was going to take up teasing them.

"I guess." Shige stumbled, "No. Not really."

"So where do you sleep?"

"Shige, get your skinny ass in here." Ryo called and Shige glared at Koyama, whose smile only grew, eyes going narrow with the force of it.

"Bastard."

Koyama had to have learned that _‘who-me?’_ from Massu. He was just going to need to shove him back in that box for his own damn good. He wasn’t going to admit that the exchange left something burning in his stomach besides embarrassment. It was fascinating, watching Koyama. 

Ryo was leaning over Tsubasa’s chair looking at the screen intently, there was something there, a little purple blip on the radar closing in on them fast.

"How did they find us? Is the scrambler on?" Shige frowned at Ryo’s question. They were normally pretty good at this smuggling business.

"Yeah, maybe they know us?" Shige answered, answering the stupid question for Tsubasa this time. Shige never asked about it, because Ryo always just scowled about old contacts when he did ask, but it was brilliant. The signal from their ship, and by law everyone needed a code, flipped almost constantly when they were in deep space, it kept people from locking on, masked who they were.

"Expecting anyone?" Tsubasa looked over his shoulder at Ryo, his hair brushing along Ryo’s jaw.

"No."

They stood around watching the image get closer. Shige’s heart beat faster, adrenaline kicking in sharply.

"Tsubasa, run a scan on the thermal signature."

"Captain?"

Shige could see why he was confused, most ships in the sky these days would turn up the same results on a thermal scan. It wasn't very likely it would tell them anything useful but the set of Ryo's jaw, the sudden tension there told him Ryo had an idea.

"Just do it."

Tsubasa bent his head over the console, fingers flying over the screen and after just a minute or two he was scanning the data and making a low, thoughtful sound.

"You were right, Captain. There is definitely something odd about that ship. Scans say it's... burning _cold_. "

Ryo's voice was tight, one of the only signs that he was worried. "I was afraid of that."

Tsubasa made a questioning noise, not quite asking for an explanation but clearly confused by what he was seeing.

Massu's disembodied voice patched in over the comm sounding mildly impressed. "If you can covert a ship's engine to cold combustion it makes you very hard to track. You can slip through all kinds of scans with a ship like that; it makes it nearly impossible to find you and damn hard to keep you. I would love to get my hands on that engine."

"Keep it in your pants, Massu." Ryo's expression was grim as he explained, "Very few people have the resources to afford the kind of equipment it takes for a conversion like that. Fucking Matsumoto."

He had only ever heard rumors, murmurs in dark corners of bars, stories repeated by a friend of a friend of a business partner who had once crossed paths with Matsumoto Jun and his crew. They said he was a businessman, of a sort. The kind who made deals you didn't get to refuse, who ruthlessly enforced his will. General opinion is that he was best avoided entirely. He wondered how Ryo knew him.

Ryo let his breath out in a short, harsh gust. "Looks like a storm is coming. Let's batten down the hatches."

Then came the orders. The rest of the crew was ordered to make themselves as scarce as possible, their bunks or their workstations, wherever they thought they would be most safe. Koyama was ordered to his room and locked in with a rueful smile from Shige.

Finally it was just the two of them left, standing quiet and tense at the top of the stairs leading to the cargo bay. Shige set his jaw in a stubborn glare. "You know I'm not just going to barricade myself on the bridge and let you deal with this alone."

That got him the ghost of a smile. "Yeah, and as I much I would like to make you try, I need you as backup. But I want you to stay hidden. Preferably armed to the teeth."

"Yeah, because I was just going to let you walk into an encounter with one of the most viscous men in the galaxy armed with only my rapier-sharp wit."

"I'd be dead for sure."

They shared a sharp smile and Shige figured as long as they could still trade insults there was a chance that things would be ok.

"I'll be here. I know you won't be careful but at least try not to get yourself killed."

Ryo nodded and pulled Shige into a tight embrace. He breathed in the warm, clean metal smell of Ryo's hair before following Ryo into a desperate kiss. He would do his damnedest to make it sure it wasn't the last.

–

Waiting sucked. He was sitting in the mostly empty cargo bay drumming his fingers against the side of a storage container and trying to let his impatience show. He liked action and reaction. He worked best in the heat of the moment, ideas and plans coming to him on the fly, inspiration lighting him up only when it was really needed. Planning was all well and good but in his experience plans rarely went they way you expected them to.

He was almost grateful for the harsh clank of metal on metal that told him the other ship had arrived and was preparing to dock with them. He wasn't surprised that Matsumoto didn't hail them or attempt any sort of communication before banging on the door to the bay. He really shouldn't be taunting the man but he couldn't help himself. He opened up a comm line.

"Nishikido Enterprises, how can I help you?"

"Open the door, Nishikido or we'll do it for you." Matsumoto's purr came across the link just as Ryo remembered it, smooth and cold.

The door hissed open, pressure stabilizing. Matumoto was preceded by half a dozen or so very large men with guns, the man never did like to travel without a full compliment of goons.

They didn't blink at the gun Ryo had trained on their boss's face, just brought their own weapons up. More men clattered through the door, sweeping up the stairs and into the depths of the ship. Ryo kept his face impassive and hoped like hell that Shige was well hidden.

"Put the gun down, Nishiki or things are going to get real messy, real fast."

_Shit._ That had been a voice he had hoped not to hear but there was no mistaking that thin, reedy tone overlaid with smug amusement. Nino had a perpetual vocal smirk, always sounded like he knew something you didn't. The man was a nasty piece of work, he hurt people for a living and enjoyed every second of it. People said he was very creative. Nino on his ship did not bode well.

Matumoto strolled in, hands in the pockets of his perfectly tailored gunmetal grey suit, perfectly at ease invading Ryo's ship.

"It's been a while, Ryo."

"Yeah. Last time I saw you, you were still climbing the corporate ladder. I hear you have your own operation these days."

Matsumoto's smile was switchblade sharp and diamond bright. He was a beautiful man, all dark hair and cream skin and he used it to the best possible advantage to dazzle and disarm. Ryo knew better.

"I can celebrate my status as a modestly successful businessman, it's true. Let's get straight to business today, Ryo, let's talk acquisitions."

Ryo just raised an eyebrow, trying to radiate the disbelief that he had anything Matusmoto might want.

It was like the man was reading his mind. "You have something I want, Ryo. Rumor has it you are carrying some cargo of a... unique nature."

"Check if you like, all I have down here is normal supplies. I'm not even on a job right now." He grinned, "You're welcome to take the canned tuna if you want. Make yourself a casserole or something."

Nino's gun came up like a flash, the glint of silver in the corner of his eye almost too fast to register. There was a sharp, bright stab of pain in his hand and his own weapon was clattering to the floor. He was bleeding but it was just a trickle, the wound was a graze - a warning shot. Nino smiled pleasantly at him, crazy fucker.

Matumoto's mouth was drawn up in a disappointed frown. Like he was deeply hurt, like Ryo had let him down. "We all know that simply isn't true, Ryo. If you had bothered to check the cortex instead of skulking out here in deep space you would know that the bounty on your head is... substantial."

Fuck fuck fuck. If Matsumoto said substantial, he meant astronomical.

"It's only slightly less than Akanishi Jin's. Which forces one to make the cognitive leap that you are on a run for Akanishi who has conveniently dropped off the cortex entirely. No one knows exactly what you are carrying but we know it's worth a fortune. I'm concerned about you, Ryo. You aren't normally this stupid. Although," he continued thoughtfully, "if Akanishi fed you some kind of sob story I can see it. You always did have an inconvenient and misguided sense of honor."

He managed to keep his voice even, clamping down on errant emotions before they could leak out into the small space between him and Matsumoto. Not enough space, but then a galaxy or two probably wouldn't be enough space for comfort. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Matsumoto."

The man pouted, the asshole. "You never call me Jun anymore, Ryo. We were such good friends once."

"Yeah, well. I guess we grew apart. It's not you, it's me."

That made Matsumoto laugh, threw back his head and chuckled low and beautiful and Ryo was sure then he was in for a world of hurt. Matsumoto was feeling playful, never a good sign. A minute motion of his hand and seconds later Ryo found himself being hauled upright and bound tight against one of the support struts. He was just glad his back was facing the rest of the ship, where Shige should be concealed.

Matumoto got right up in his face then, almost blocking the sight of Nino laying out his tools in the background. Ryo wished he could close eyes, he really didn't need to see that but he held Matsumoto's gaze, held his ground as much as possible. "Is it a weapon, Ryo? Have you even looked or do you trust Akanishi that much, are you really that much of a fool?"

A few moments of strained silence between them and Matsumoto was speaking again, rich smooth voice soft in Ryo's ear. "If you tell me now I'll let you go, Ryo. I'll just take it and leave and I won't drag your pathetic ass in. No harm no foul, for old times sake."

He wanted to keep his cool, he really did but the snarl tore out of his throat before he could stop it. "Go fuck yourself, Jun."

The blow knocked his head back against the steel beam, a sharp slap that probably left marks from Jun's huge fuckoff rings striped across his cheekbone. Jun's slim, graceful figure was misleading. He could still bitch slap a man with the best of them.

"We'll do it your way then, Ryo."

Nino's sly weasel grin stretched from ear to ear as he rang short, clever fingers over the gleaming array of tools spread out before him. "Yay."

–

Shige was able to hear more of the conversation than was good for his mental health from his hiding spot overlooking the cargo bay. He had a perfect view of the proceedings when Matsumoto's short companion picked up the blackjack and advanced on Ryo with a smile. He forced himself to look away just so he could collect his thoughts. He needed a plan.

Three of Matsumoto's men were nearby but probably out of hearing range if he was careful and quiet. He touched his comm link and muttered as quietly as he could. "Status."

Massu's voice was low in his earpiece, "Junno, Tsubasa, and I are locked in on the bridge. Most of the weapons are secured but some of the controls aren't working properly."

Tsubasa chimed in, "Matusmoto seems to have some pretty advanced scrambling tech in place. We don't have remote access to the cargo bay release."

Shit. There was one idea down the tubes. Even if he could get to Ryo and secure them both their crew couldn't blow the hatch from the safety of the control room. They would have to be able to get to the manual switch by the door. Unlikely, to say the least.

"There is a guard on this door but they are leaving us to cool our heels in here for now. Probably waiting to see what happens with the captain," Junno trailed off slightly, leaving an opening for Shige to tell them what exactly was happening with the captain right now.

He chose to let the moment slide by in silence. "Ok, stay there. Don't try anything stupid. I'll keep you updated." He cut the comm link before they could ask any questions he really didn't want to answer.

Ryo's pained scream ripped through the tense silence followed by a soothing noise from the guy who caused it and blood flooded Shige's mouth where he had bitten through his lip to keep silent.

He heard a very small noise followed by a quiet thud and turned his head just in time to catch sight of the closest black-garbed goon going down in a crumpled heap. He jumped about a foot when a soft hand landed on his shoulder a second later.

Koyama looked slightly sheepish, standing there barefoot and loose-limbed.

"What the hell are you doing?! How did you get here," Shige hissed through clenched teeth.

"I picked my lock. I thought you might need help," Koyama's voice was soft and apologetic. "I seem to have no problems manipulating the lock with my mind," he elaborated with a sidelong glance, head bowed a little like he expected to be punished.

"Right, crazy mind powers," Shige muttered. "You realize we are all worse than dead if those people realize what you are."

"The captain is dead if we _don't_ do something, isn't he?" Koyama's stare was dark and sympathetic and Shige couldn't quite hold his gaze.

The sound of something dull and heavy hitting flesh followed by an anguished groan echoed through the hallway and Shige winced.

Koyama squeezed his hand, the touch brief but comforting. "Let's go, Shige. We're going to save him."

He didn't have a chance to respond before Koyama was off in the direction of the rest of the armed men on their level, his movements silent and smooth like some kind of large predatory cat. He wasn't even armed. Shige raised his gun and followed him.

They caught the next two guards off-guard, coming around a corner they saw them a second too late. Shige didn't want to shoot – too loud, but he didn't need to. Koyama whirled into action, going into a crouch and sweeping a long leg, taking one of the men right off his feet and somehow managing to muffle the crash the man made coming down.

The other man reared back into position to take a swing. He threw an explosive punch but Koyama ducked under his arm, using his forward momentum to slip behind him, his graceful hands snapping his neck efficiently. Shige gaped in the privacy of his head but used the chance to thumb up the amperage on his stun gun and jam it into the neck of the man on the ground.

Three more men went down just as easily as they prowled the walkways together. Koyama moved like some kind of animated action hero, unarmed and deadly and natural as breathing. Shige wasn't completely useless, he had gotten to be quite good in a fight but he still relied mostly on quickly thinking, good reflexes, and carefully applied weaponry. Koyama made death look like dancing.

He was sure it was stress, the adrenaline racing through his veins. He was sick with worry leaving Ryo with those men for even a minute longer than necessary but he could feel the tingle of arousal pool in his gut, his image of Koyama tilting in a very different direction. No one had ever told him he had sensible taste in men, probably how he ended up with someone like Ryo to begin with.

Koyama was tugging his sleeve, urging him close so he could whisper in his ear and Shige fought the full body shiver it caused. "We've cleared out the rest of this ship, it's just the cargo bay now right?"

Shige just nodded, not trusting his voice.

"So, if we can secure Ryo properly can we just open the bay doors? Dump all of the bad guys into space?"

"Except for the fact that we would have to get to the doors to activate the controls manually."

Koyama just looked at him for a long moment and Shige felt his cheeks color. "Right, you can probably take care of that. But we still have to make sure Ryo is safe. Those restraints they have him in won't survive the pull."

The other man's eyes were dark and very close. "Do you trust me, Shige?"

"I don't know," he answered in completely honesty.

"I can save him. I can save all of you. You have to let me try."

Shige dared a glance through the one-way glass that looked down into the bay. The short man had picked up something that glowed orange at the tip. A second later there was a hoarse scream and the sudden smell of singed flesh. He fought the urge to throw up. "I trust you. Do it."

"Good." Koyama leaned forward just enough to press soft lips to Shige's cheek and he really, really wasn't going to think about that right now. He just kept his eyes trained on the back of Ryo's head, every muscle in his body tensed and waiting.

Koyama closed his eyes and his mobile features went blank in concentration. Shige watched in fascination as the lever by the bay door disengaged from the locked position and moved slowly but steadily to the open position.

The man torturing Ryo was intent on his victim and Matsumoto was prowling around Ryo still firing off questions and hissing threats. Neither of them were watching the door but one of the goons shouted a warning. He dropped his gun and dove for the lever but too late. It clicked into place a second before he reached it.

The door whooshed open with the hiss of hydraulics and the men didn't even have time to scream. Shige only got a glimpse of Matsumoto's stunned expression before he was ripped off his feet and flung out into space, hands scrabbling for purchase a second too late.

The bindings holding Ryo were straining but he held fast, Koyama's eyes squeezed tight shut with the effort of combating the forces threatening to suck Ryo out into the void. It only took a few seconds for the bay to clear. As soon as the last man lost his grip on the cargo netting and passed the door Shige shouted over the sound of rushing air, "Now, Koyama. Shut it down!"

The lever slid back down, quickly this time and the door clicked closed. Ryo sagged in his bonds, clearly out cold. Shige had no idea what kind of condition he was in, they still had him physically. Shige tore down the stairs and prayed that he was still breathing.

"Junno, med bay _Now_."

Koyama was right behind him as he hit the ground running but hung back a few steps when he reached Ryo. Shige forced himself to slide his eyes over the obvious surface damage without thinking about it too hard. Shallow cuts, heavy bruising around the midsection, angry red burns showing through singed patches in his shirt. Shige shoved his worry and rage down deep until later when it wouldn't be in the way. The important thing was that Ryo's battered chest was still rising and falling.

He lifted Ryo's head up in gentle hands, the thin gash across one cheekbone would probably scar. A slightly hysterical corner of his brain noted that it would look pretty dashing when it healed. He got to work, freeing Ryo of his bonds as quickly and gently as he could. Ryo slumped forward into his arms when the ropes fell slack and Shige just held him for a moment, a breath, reveling in the feeling of the man in his arms, solid and safe.

He lifted Ryo up trying his best not to jostle him and started to make his way to the medical bay where hopefully Junno would be waiting to assess the extent of the damage. He paused briefly to look at Koyama who was standing there looking strangely helpless . It was odd to see him like that again, now that Shige knew the kinds of things he was capable of.

"Thank you," his voice was hoarse with emotion.

Koyama smiled softly and after a moment, Shige felt his lips curve up in response. He inclined his head a fraction to indicate that Koyama should follow him and made his way back into the ship.

Junno was used to dancing around Shige getting in his way in the medical bay, Shige wouldn’t leave. When Ryo woke up he would bitch about it, how someone needed to be in charge or the idiots were going to drive them into an asteroid or something. Then maybe once he was sure Ryo was okay, he could go tell the others what to do and pretend they would listen to him. He wasn’t going to budge an inch until then. 

Shige figured they could do their jobs without him long enough for him to sit here and fret about Ryo while he was allowed to. It was kind of nice, but fundamentally wrong that he wasn’t getting his hands bitten off as he tangled his fingers through Ryo’s hair. Junno cut off his shirt to get a better look at the burns, and Shige brushed his thumb over the constellation of marks there, familiar and comforting.

“How does it look?” Shige asked, and Junno wouldn’t lie to him. Junno looked up from the piles of gauze and antiseptic. He frowned a bit, Shige had to agree since the skin around the burns looked all red and angry, inflamed.

Koyama had pulled himself into a corner watching them; Shige imagined he could feel his eyes trailing on his back as he brushed his fingers through Ryo’s hair. Ryo was too stupidly brave for his own good.

“I think that he’ll be okay, I just need to clean him up and apply some bandages. He’ll mend. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“I’ll always fucking worry about his stupid ass.” Shige growled. Junno smiled at him warmly.

“You will find pretty much the only part of him that is without injury is his _stupid ass_.”

“Of course.” Shige couldn’t help the indulgent smile. That reminded him, he looked up to find Koyama watching them, he was sitting on a stool and leaning hard against the wall. He looked a little pale.

“Are you okay?” He hadn’t even noticed that Koyama wasn’t looking so hot.

“Hungry.” Koyama gave him wan smile. “Energy input needs to equal energy output. Normally I eat a lot more, but I wasn’t allowed to use my ability and it wouldn’t do to get fat.”

Shige didn’t realize it was a joke until Koyama gave him a sleepy smile. Then he couldn’t help the almost hysterical giggles. That was so fucked up.

“Here, eat these.” Junno tossed him some pills. “It’s just glucose; it should perk you right up.”

“Thank you.”

Koyama closed his eyes and seemed to drift off immediately. Maybe he shut down or something, like entering sleep-mode. Did he have a screen-saver? Flying toasters was so last century.

Shige sort of zoned a bit, watching the constant movement of Junno’s quick fingers over Ryo’s chest, smoothing a soft numbing cream across the worst of the bruising. When he woke up it was because Ryo was flicking his elbow.

“Sleeping on the job?” His voice was all raspy, but his eyes were bright and clear. Ryo would never let Junno drug him (didn’t trust the ‘tall freak’) unless he needed whole organs removed. His other fingers were twisted in the sheet that Junno kindly offered him, hair all tousled and face bruised. He looked a lot like that the first time Shige kissed him, tasting the blood from his split lip and the sour curve of his smirk. “I am going to sack you.”

“You don’t have the balls. You love me.”

“Fuck off.”

_Love you too, asshole._

“What happened back there anyways?” Ryo asked, casting an uncertain glance at Koyama who was still sleeping propped against the wall in a position that couldn’t be comfortable at all.

“Koyama happened,” Shige said, feeling something low in his gut tug just thinking about that. So much power, he could rip Shige to shreds, but he just followed Shige around asking stupid questions, completely docile, like everyone’s best friend pet-tiger or something ridiculous like that.

“What do you mean?” Ryo shifted, winced, and let his body settle again against the bed. Junno had left, winking completely without subtlety or tact, saying that Ryo needed to _’rest’_ with heavily implied air quotes.

“He,” there wasn’t a way to explain it, just one moment he was standing there all pretty and easy-looking, the next he was pure movement. “Koyama, he, he’s amazing, Massu and Junno are dealing with the bodies he left in the halls.”

“The hatch opened.” Ryo cut in, looking at the bruises from the cuffs biting into his wrist, he knew that wouldn’t have been enough to stand up to the pure vacuum of space. “I remember it.”

“He did that. Then he did that brain-thing and held you in place.”

Ryo looked contemplative for a bit, watching the steady rise and fall of Koyama’s narrow chest, maybe he was trying to imagine what Koyama would look like fighting. Shige couldn’t explain it if he tried, not with all the words he knew.

“Did you do even anything to save me?” The mocking tilt of his mouth made Shige roll his eyes.

“Asshole.”

“I need you to go up, find Tsubasa, make sure we are still up next to Matsumoto’s ship, we need to erase any evidence we had anything to do with this.”

Shige nodded. “Okay.” He wanted to get as far away from here as possible, but he trusted Ryo’s judgment. He would rather die than let anything happen to the ship and her crew, and once or twice it had almost come down to that and the thought _terrified_ Shige to no end. 

“Let him sleep.” Ryo said tilting his chin at Koyama.

Tsubasa was helping Massu move this one huge man, he was tugging at one of his feet and Massu had the other, they were both sweating under the strain. Massu looked up through his fluffy bangs and smiled at him, looking relieved.

“If you’re here, Ryo’s okay.”

“Ryo is fine.” Shige flushed. He would never get used to that.

“Can we just turn off the grav field?” Tsubasa whined, dropping the huge foot, the thumping sound ringing out in the halls. The man’s neck was all floppy, head lolling in ways it shouldn’t. Koyama didn’t look like he had that much strength in his slender hands, fingers curling around the man’s jaw and with no more than a flick the man had gone down.

“Are we in sync with Matsumoto’s ship still?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Tasubasa looked at him with a frown. “Why?”

“Ryo wanted it.”

“Are we going to,” Tsubasa paused looking for the right word, “loot it? Because, as much as he was an asshole, and we should respect the very-very-dead, I could make _sweet love_ to the cold combustion engine, I mean that.”

They were occasionally smugglers, and sometimes scavengers, but the thought of stripping Matsumoto’s ship left a bad taste in his mouth. If anything Ryo was practical, but he couldn’t be thinking about doing that could he?

“Can you give us a hand?” Shige sighed, and leaned down to grab the man’s hands, it was like a slab of ham, heavy and thick.

They piled them to be spaced with the rest of the crew. It wasn’t a dignified burial, but they couldn’t afford anything else at the moment. Besides, they had hurt Ryo, the screams would echo in Shige’s dreams for months, he wanted to say they didn’t deserve better. Sweaty and hot he made his way back to the medical bay to update Ryo and ask what they should do. Only Ryo wasn’t there, neither was Junno nor Koyama.

He swallowed down the first instinctual wave of panic, they couldn’t have missed anyone and besides even if they did, Ryo could take care of himself, broken ribs or not and he wasn’t thinking about Koyama anymore because that way madness lies. Pushing off the doorframe of the medical bay he moved through the small ship, senses straining for any clue as to where they had gone. He heard the voices first.

They were standing in the middle of the cargo bay. Ryo was sitting on the tuna crate (it had ironically been netted down pretty well) looking at Koyama with a hard, even stare. He remembered Ryo giving him that same even stare, looking at him from the loading ramp and asking if he’d really meant what he said about wanting a life in space. It was dangerous, it was illegal and he was either going to die or get his candy-ass sent to prison and if that was Shige really wanted he should get a move on, Ryo couldn’t wait forever. 

“Are… you giving me a choice?” Koyama looked so confused; it was kind of a pathetic expression for him. All bad-ass, and he looked so young when he was confused, it hurt Shige’s head. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, you can take Matsumoto’s ship, run, hide, just,” Ryo looked a little uncomfortable here, “go, be free. I won’t stop you. Honestly I don’t think I could if that was what you wanted.”

Something in Shige’s heart twisted, swelling and feeling like it might melt at the same time. He flattened himself against the rail and listened, as much as he wanted too, he was too scared to interrupt.

“But I am supposed to be going to Helena 4 base.” Koyama’s careful, bland smile seemed to be smoothing out his confusion.

“I checked the coordinates, you’re to be given to Yokoyama, he’s not a bad man, but he’s not a very good man either. It’s your choice.” Ryo’s voice was still too rough to be considered affectionate, but Shige had a lot of practice reading between the lines. _‘You saved my life’_

“I shouldn’t deviate from what Jin wanted.” Koyama shook his head, “he has authorization.”

“Jin’s a wanted criminal.” Ryo wanted Koyama to take the chance, and a small part of Shige wanted him to as well, even if he couldn’t imagine Koyama making it on his own.

“That doesn’t change anything.”

“Fine.” Ryo looked angry as he stumbled off the crate, one arm wrapped around his middle.

Shige snuck away, he needed to take care of the ship while Ryo was resting. If his heart beat faster, and his stomach twisted, well he wasn’t going to think too hard about it.

–

Ryo never mentioned the offer and Shige certainly wasn't going to bring it up. He had the feeling that Koyama and maybe also Ryo knew he knew. Ryo had long since given up on trying to keep information from Shige and Koyama had uncanny abilities of all sorts. Shige wouldn't be surprised if he had known Shige was watching.

Not that they were ever going to talk about it.

He remembered Koyama's quiet insistence that he be delivered as originally planned. He wondered if Koyama had picked up a little of Ryo's grudging honor or maybe just his shear stubbornness.

They had extracted themselves from the metal embrace of Matsumoto's ship and left it far behind them. If any of Matsumoto's people ever got organized enough to make inquiries into what happened they would need a spectacular hunch to connect their ship to the scene. Ryo swore that he and Matsumoto haven't been in contact for years and if there was one thing they were good at it was flying under the radar.

He and Ryo had been bent over the charts for the better part of an hour, utterly failing to agree on the best course to keep them out of the way of anyone who might get too nosy.

"We can avoid trouble completely if we go around Vega 6, you know, the back way."

"Yeah, but then we'll be shit out of luck if something happens and we need supplies. Besides, that's the way pirates would go. If we think like criminals that's how they'll catch us. We need to act like we aren't doing anything wrong. Then we'll be less suspicious." He blithely ignored Ryo's death glare. "Also we'll stay out of the way of _actual_ pirates."

Ryo let out a short, sharp breath through his nose and Shige knew he had the edge in the debate. He continued in a slightly lower voice, reaching out to brush his hand quickly along the tense line of Ryo's shoulders. "It's faster too. Then we can drop Koyama off where he's supposed to go and get ourselves clear of this shitstorm."

That got him a dark, inscrutable look. "If you want to jump him, why are you so eager to ship him off to Yokoyama?"

Fuck, maybe they were going to talk about it.

Shige froze, all the willing in the world wouldn't force the sudden heat from his cheeks. Was Ryo baiting him, just teasing to see what would happen or was he having one of those damnably accurate insights of his. And if so, how pissed was he? There were several ways he could play this but more often than not, they went for flippant mocking. Why mess with a proven favorite.

He shrugged one shoulder, still not quite willing to meet Ryo's eyes to gauge his reaction. "Maybe I was thinking it might be good to fuck someone nice for a change."

"Bullshit, if you wanted someone nice you would have run off with Masuda years ago." Ryo's voice was calm and implacable. Impossible to tell from tone alone, he'd have to look.

The asshole was grinning, clearly enjoying watching Shige squirm. Sadistic bastard.

He spun on his heel, fist cocked to cuff Ryo in the jaw but he was just a breath too slow. Ryo caught his fist in an open palm and shoved just enough to let his own momentum knock him flat into the table. Hard. He wheezed slightly as Ryo leaned all of his weight down against the line of his back, breath stirring the hair by Shige's ear.

"No, I get it. Trust me. He's a very attractive _package_."

And just like that his mind was flooded with images of Ryo and Koyama. Those long, tan legs twined around Ryo's hips. The inky black of Ryo's hair stark against golden skin as he trailed his mouth down and further still. The wave of arousal spiked with hot jealousy combined with the fact that his current position made it a little difficult to breathe properly was making him a bit lightheaded.

A second more and Ryo took pity on him, hauling him back upright with a fist in his shirt and spun him around to crush their lips together. His relief was a palpable thing; they had been building up to this for a while. Ryo's mouth on his shook him like the first crash of thunder after days of storm clouds, all that tension accumulating and _finally_ spilling over.

The thing with Koyama, whatever it was – Shige didn't really want to spend the brainpower to figure out what he meant to either of them, he was positive it wouldn't end well, it was stressful to say the least. Throw in Ryo's near death at the hands of sociopaths he used to call friends and the threat of the entire government coming down on their heads at any moment and life had been a little more exciting than even Ryo was comfortable with.

He knotted his hands in Ryo's soft hair, tugging him even closer as Ryo made a harsh, desperate sound and pressed him back into the edge of the table. He spared half a thought for Ryo's healing injuries but then Ryo's tongue was doing absolutely wicked things and fuck if Shige was going to stop him. He was more than willing to obey orders, however unspoken, when it suited him. If Junno gave them shit later he could honestly claim it was all Ryo's fault.

–

They nearly made it to the drop point when all hell broke loose. Shige woke to Tsubasa's terrified babble about grav clamps and fucking tractor beams and a small fleet of military ships armed to the teeth. Minutes later the whole crew sans Massu, on standby in the engine room, was gathered on the bridge to discuss their meager options.

"We're just... hopelessly outgunned, captain." Tsubasa stared helplessly at the visual feed screen, sounding like he was personally responsible for them being outmatched.

"I'll be damned if I let them put us in a fucking headlock and board us like a playground bully. And we're sure as shit not getting blown out of the sky," Ryo growled.

"Let's definitely avoid the latter option, captain," Massu put in over the comm link.

Shige nodded. "We can touch down on whatever tiny planet that is over there and make a proper stand."

Ryo straightened and swept his gaze over them, "This is your chance to get out before it gets ugly guys. I don't blame you. This is my mess and you don't have to stay to get stuck in it. The shuttle is fully stocked and the scrambler will get you clear before they catch on. Besides, they'll stay as long as we do." The slight incline of his head including Koyama in the last statement.

"No can do," Junno replied blithely. "We'll stay with the you and the ship."

Tsubasa and Massu echoed his sentiments and Ryo scowled, "You're all fucking morons." But he couldn't quite make the anger reach his eyes.

“We love you too, captain,” Massu said with a smile.

The wind whipped at his hair when they lowered the hatch and stepped out into knee-high grass. It looked like this part of the planet was all prairie. It was a pretty place to die, Shige thought. They told Koyama to lay as low as possible, to lock himself in, make himself scarce, and had all of the guys on standby in the ship so they could take off if necessary.

He and Ryo were paused at the top of the ramp, ready to face the music but not before Ryo grabbed his hand, squeezed it hard and gave him a rueful grin. "I can't exactly say I'm sorry I got you into this life. But for what it's worth, I never planned for us to face down an entire military platoon."

Shige just laughed, wishing briefly that they had time for one last go-round, to keep the feeling of Ryo's skin against his hot and rough and perfect fresh in his memory. "It's not like I didn't ask for it. And isn't it kind of requisite for smugglers of a less than legal nature to run afoul of the law a few times? We're just doing it on an epic scale."

"Damn straight."

A breath and they shared a last look heavy with affection and trust all of those things they would never get a chance to avoid talking about again before they turned their eyes forward and strode out into the sunshine.

There were more guns than Shige had ever seen in one place, (and that was including the job where they hijacked the mobile armory), and dozens of anonymous helmeted soldiers and blaring orders and ultimatums that sliced through the afternoon calm.

Of course they refused to give up any information and Shige was surprised to find themselves preparing to be manhandled into cuffs instead of just shot after Ryo's taunting.

"Stop. Just _stop_." Koyama's voice was as soft as usual but somehow it carried over the struggle of him and Ryo preparing to resist arrest.

The officer in charge gave a curt order and the men holding him and Ryo stilled, keeping them immobile for the time being.

"I'll go with you willingly if you leave them be. Let the whole crew return to the ship unharmed and undamaged, that's all I ask."

And Shige felt sick with anger and fear and the knowledge that they would never see Koyama again. But at the very end, it was still his choice.

The commander asked Koyama a few questions and seemed satisfied with the answers. Shige couldn't hear the exchange but Koyama made sure to pitch his voice to carry when he turned to them, sad and beautiful in the warm afternoon. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm sorry this is the only way I can repay you."

They watched helplessly as Koyama let himself be led away to a medic team who jammed a disturbingly large syringe into his arm and shot him up with something that apparently worked immediately. He crumpled onto a waiting gurney seconds later. Just a moment too late to hear the click of the restraints secured around Shige's wrists.

"You fucking witless _moron_! They aren't just going to let us g-" Ryo's enraged shout was the last thing Shige registered before a heavy weight came down hard on his skull and he was dead to the world.

–

Nakamaru had always been a pretty easy going man. He worked hard, kept his head down, and didn't ask too many questions. At least not outside the privacy of his own lab. And in return he got state-of-the-art equipment, all of the funding he could possibly want, and intellectual freedom.

'Within reason' Jin had always tacked on sarcastically when he reminded his friend why it was their best option to work for the government.

He and Jin had grown up together, inseparable since their first week at the advanced science academy they had been shipped off to when they were twelve. They worked very well together, a natural partnership where Nakamaru's logic tempered Jin's wildly creative speculation and Jin's inspiration took Nakamaru's calculations in exciting new directions. They were partners and while Maru knew things weren't ideal he thought they had a pretty good thing going.

Jin had always been more skeptical then him of the government's intentions. He couldn't truthfully admit that deep down he hadn’t always been wondering if Jin would crack, just snap and take off. But he had always thought that when the day came that Jin would tell him. Might give him the chance to go along.

Standing in the lab that morning, finding the systems ransacked and the data missing or corrupted and Koyama... the last seven years of their work just gone, a giant hole ripped in the fabric of his life, it was infuriating. Jin had taken nearly everything useful but he had left Nakamaru's notebooks. Since the beginning Nakamaru had kept all of the most important information as hard copies written in his own personal code. Jin hadn't touched those which meant that his problem was with their employers and not Nakamaru.

He wasn't an emotional person by nature but he found himself with fists clenched, almost vibrating with helpless rage. He had trusted Jin, he thought Jin had trusted him too. Jin should have known that he would have followed wherever Jin felt he needed to go.

A few short weeks later it was all moot, Koyama was returned to the lab and he was painstakingly reconstructing their data files. But everything was different. There was no Jin to bounce theories off of or complain about the substandard coffee or make inappropriate jokes. The silence of the first few hours was eerie. It looked like his lab, everything in its proper place but it was lifeless, cold.

Then Koyama woke up and it was immediately apparent that things would never be the same again. In the brief time he was gone he had changed more than all of the years Nakamaru had worked with him.

Koyama had been assigned to them when they were just teenagers, cocky geniuses fresh out of the academy and eager to prove themselves, to do something amazing. They were told that Koyama was an ideal candidate for their genetic manipulation experiments. He had been kept alive in stasis since he was young, maybe four or five. He didn't have many memories or impressions of the outside world but he possessed a staggering capacity for learning: a perfect blank slate.

Their research was almost frighteningly successful. Koyama took the genetic changes beautifully, his body adapting and accepting the code like he was part machine. He passed mental and physical tests with flying colors. One area that they had been ordered not to alter was his personality. They were to keep him pleasant and biddable, the perfect soldier or spy willing to follow orders without question. They were never under the illusion that they were doing anything other than developing a deadly weapon.

He had never showed interest in anything but what they were teaching him at the moment. But now... the first thing he did when he opened his eyes was look at Nakamaru. Really _looked_ at him. Like he was seeing him as a person and not just a body in a lab coat that was giving him directions.

"Nakamaru. I must be back in the lab, yes?"

He could only nod at first, shocked at the immediate change in Koyama's posture. The man was tense in his restraints like he hadn't spent most of his life tied down or locked up.

"The crew of that ship, were they released? Shige and Ryo, are they unharmed?"

Nakamaru blinked. He had always known that Koyama had an amazing capacity to adapt quickly, it's what he was designed to do. He wondered what would happen if he was exposed to real people. Maybe he had picked up more from Nakamaru and Jin than they thought. He had certainly never expressed interest in other people, let alone the sharp concern Nakamaru could feel coming off of him in waves.

"I really don't know if they are unharmed. I heard that they brought the captain and his partner in for questioning. I think the rest of the crew was released." He saw no reason not to answer honestly, after all that had happened it probably couldn't hurt.

He was fascinated by Koyama's reaction, the way his eyes narrowed. He looked more angry than worried now. "What did you do on that ship, Koyama? Did they know what you are capable of?" He couldn't keep himself from prodding, ever the scientist. He wanted to study these changes, catalog each one and extract the data. "Did they use you as a weapon?"

Koyama's eyes were dark, alive in a way Nakamaru never thought he would see them. His voice was soft when he finally answered. "They...took care of me. I wanted to save them."

Koyama had come back willingly, he knew. He must have done it because they told him they would spare the people who sheltered him. And just like that Nakamaru had had it. The lab, the years of experiments, the government. He had always thought he was his own man, that he was just making the best use of the resources he was given but he was just as much of a prisoner as Koyama was – trapped in this lab for years, exploited for his talent.

His longing to see Jin was so sudden and sharp he could taste it, the bitterness flooding his mouth like battery acid. He wanted to tell him that he understood, he finally got it. He didn't think he would ever get to see Jin again. But there were still things he could do.

"Just wait. I'll fix this," he promised Koyama. The man just stared at him, confusion plain on his more mobile features.

His fingers flew over the keys as he re-traced steps, following twisting electronic pathways that he and Jin had laid down in secret years ago. He was looking for something they had never quite dared to use, something they had never planned to need. Just a few more layers, a complex cypher and a dirty hack or two later and... there it was.

The rendering of the sequence was beautiful, it shone in the dim lights of the lab like a gem lit from within, warm and golden. This was true freedom, the key that opened every lock, the ability to escape – anywhere, any time.

He couldn't say why they had coded it into Koyama's genes so long ago just to leave it dormant. Maybe it was a kind of subconscious 'fuck you' to the government. A way to throw the biggest wrench possible in the works if things went horribly wrong. He chuckled bitterly to himself, things couldn't get much worse. He was sure he would die for this but it really didn't seem to mean very much any more. He couldn't find anything that was worth continuing on for.

The Koyama he had known for so long would never have known what to do with this gift. He needed people to tell him where to go and what to do. But now, now he was ready. Nakamaru had a sudden flashback to his childhood, him and Jin lazing in the sun on a perfect golden summer afternoon. They had been watching the clouds and a bird cut a joyous swath across the sun, soaring off into the distance. He could almost hear Jin's voice in his ear, _Yu-chan, what do you think freedom is?_

He didn't think he would ever find out but that was ok. He could still do this, he could let Koyama go. He could hope that Jin found what he was looking for out on the edges of nowhere. He gave Koyama a small smile and clicked the button.

The other man froze, every muscle in his body tensing up for a moment. "What did you do to me, Nakamaru," he gasped.

He was completely calm now, it was amazing what making a definitive decision could do for a man. "I activated a dormant genetic sequence. In the simplest terms it lets you transport yourself to any location you want. As long as you know where you are going you can take yourself and anything you are touching with you."

Koyama tilted his head slightly, clearly processing for a moment. "And anyone?"

Nakamaru laughed, he had anticipated that one. "Yes, actually. Anyone too. These are the coordinates of their holding cells."

He couldn't resist giving Koyama that one last gift while he was already breaking all the rules. "I hope you learn how to be happy, Keiichiro."

Then he stepped back and waited for their beautiful bird to fly away.

\--

At first Koyama wasn’t sure what to do with his choice. His mind flickered through possibilities, carefully feeling out the edges of his options. He _had_ options.

Koyama couldn’t help the soft smile. Giddy, that was the word for it, he was giddy with everything spooling at his fingertips, the call of subatomic particles tickling across his skin. He could feel them, buzzing, just waiting for him to grasp his new power. Maru would have given him a glucose drip while he was resting, he could tell, all physiological processes running at optimal capacity. Inexplicably and out of normal parameters his heart was beating faster, it had been doing that more often on its own lately. It was _thrilling_.

He had read a lot, had discovered a fondness for romance novels while sitting next to Tsubasa in the cockpit watching space spin lazy past the windows. God he loved those scratched windows, it made his chest ache. Yearning. He knew now that the look on Maru’s face was heartbreak. He wouldn’t last long here, not with everything he had done, and Koyama wondered about Jin, flicking through memories of Jin bitching at the guards they posted during some of Koyama’s trials, Maru trying not to laugh and being obvious about it. Besides, he probably owed Jin a favour, and Ryo and Shige were the type of men who would understand that. He was confident about that. 

He could think about it all later, it was time for _doing_.

Instead of asking, he reached forward, wrapping his fingers around Maru’s wrist, had enough time to watch the way his eyes went wide and his mouth opened before he was focusing on the co-ordinates the quick schematics he brought up so he wouldn’t end up in a wall or something. The energy that surrounded him coalesced thrumming with subatomic vibrations only he could feel, it only took a fraction of a second but the process was fascinating.

One moment they were standing in the lab and the next they were in the middle of the prisoner detention center. Maru gasped hard, stumbling against his chest and Koyama pulled him to ground as the shouts started and a shot rang out over his head. Maru would be okay. Koyama pushed himself off the ground shoving the other guard with his mind, and he hit the wall with a loud sound, ribs compressing with the force that Koyama threw him. He landed on the other man’s chest, ripping the gun from his hand by breaking his wrist and pressing it to his heart. A single shot and he was on his feet again, listing past the sound of Maru’s labored breathing for any footsteps, any other indication someone was coming.

There would be cameras, it was only a matter of time.

He spared a glance at the dead. It wasn’t very nice, and since it was his choice now, Koyama hoped he wouldn’t need to kill anyone else. In his dreams he got flashes, tests they had done on him when he was being calibrated, emotion and physiological responses monitored. He hadn’t really been aware then, but he remembered, like watching a scene through hazy fog. It was all in the past now.

“This one.” Maru was standing, fingers visibly shaking as he began to hack through the door. “Ryo is over there.” He nodded with his chin.

He liked this part. A little focus and he was on the other side of the wall, air displacing around him with a small sound. Ryo jumped about a foot, flattening himself against the wall.

“What the actual fuck?” Ryo’s narrow-eyed glare was covering up the thundering skip of his heart that Koyama could only just hear over his own quickened breathing. This was a rather massive drain on his energy.

“I’ll explain later, we need to go now.”

“Shige?”

“I wouldn’t leave him.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Ryo nodded to himself, and stepped up into Koyama’s space. Koyama touched his cheek and they flickered out of space and back into the main hall. Ryo gasped, mouth working under Koyama’s hand.

“ _What. the. fuck._ ”

Koyama laughed, delighted. The door hissed open under Maru’s clever fingers.

“Shige!” Koyama called and Shige poked his head out, blinking.

“Is this a rescue?”

“It’s a daring rescue.” Ryo agreed and Shige looked so happy to see him, Koyama couldn’t help the smile. He couldn’t stand a world where they needed to be apart, Shige obviously loved Ryo and Ryo, despite being loud and brash, obviously thought the world of Shige and it was _just_ like one of his romance novels. Maybe that was why he liked them so much, well it didn’t matter, because he could do whatever he wanted now.

Footsteps, boots with a thick military tread against the featureless cement floors.

“We need to go now.”

Maru looked at him again, stunned, and Koyama wanted to pet his fluffy hair and say things even his mind didn’t have the words for. Thank you, I don’t blame you.

He slipped his hand into Maru’s and tangled his fingers with Shige’s, reaching out to add Ryo’s hand to the mix.

“Seriously?” Was Shige’s comment, staring down incredulously at their joined hands. One moment they were underground, standing in the bright, harsh lighting and the next they were on the surface and Shige was swearing loudly.

The surface was flat desert not so much sand as flat packed earth with the occasional tangle of weeds to break up the surface for as far as the eye can see. Not a cloud in the sky, and the sky stretched, endless and unbroken to the curved horizon. 

“I don’t think I can get us off the planet.” Koyama said, breathless. It wasn’t too bad moving them straight up, a tug in his tummy and a faint shake in his arms at the like sprinting suddenly from a dead stop. “I have no idea what is up there.”

“The calculations for transport between planets.” Maru said quickly, “do you think you could do it?” He sounded positivity breathless with the idea, and Koyama had to admit, that it was fascinating. No one had achieved anything like that before, if he could, it would be fantastic. 

“Later.” Shige said shortly, “rescue now.”

“Koyama, can you take us to the hanger? About 3 kilometers east from the prison.”

Well, taking Maru with them had been a good idea. Koyama was looking forward to showing him what it was like to be on a ship with windows, what stars looked like when you just wanted something pretty to look at. The lab never had windows, and the only stars he saw were the star charts he memorized.

-

The galaxy was going crazy on the other side of the door. Shige should feel more worried about this. It was kind of hard to feel threatened when he had superman on his side.

Ryo was lazing on the bed watching television and waiting. They were on a tiny moon, famous for hotsprings and endless amounts of tourism that made it easy to hide. When they got here the room was paid, and there was a message waiting for them. It was just a date and a time. It left them a few days to ditch the stolen ship (really not big enough for 4 people) and relax.

He was getting tired of solid ground already.

“Stop making that face at me,” Ryo drawled.

“What face?” Shige grinned at him, crawling up on the bed.

“Constipated thinking face,” Ryo said sagely.

Shige punched his shoulder, curling up on the huge bed. He was missing their bed, the ship, and the slight vibrations from the engine that settled into his bones.

“It’s not long now.” Shige sighed, he curled around Ryo’s shoulders, walking his fingers over the sharpness of his shoulders. The burns had healed a little, shiny and pink and obvious. “We’ll go home.”

“Home needs some repairs, maybe boost the energy enough that we can reduce the anti-grav cycles.” Ryo hummed thoughtfully.

“You love the anti-grav cycles.” Shige said immediately, Ryo smirked at him, crooked and amused. Plainly saying ‘not just me.’

“The ship is getting more crowded.” Anti-grav led to some interesting crashes in the halls that were truly epic, Massu going down to the engine room because the power cut out suddenly, Tsubasa coming the other way. Junno had laughed himself silly handing out the ice-packs.

“I’m sure Koyama won’t mind.”

He was almost unstoppable now; the thought would have scared him if it had been anyone but Koyama. Besides, better Koyama on their side then some weapon for the government. He could count on Ryo’s stupid honourable streak to keep anyone from abusing Koyama’s abilities.

“I meant Maru.” Ryo laughed, and Shige paused. He hadn’t given much thought to Maru. He had hacked his way through several layers of defence with nothing more than a frown. He was a typical egg-head, missing just the lab coat, kind of quiet. A far cry from the mad scientist that he had been envisioning. Ryo made a soft amused sound, elbowing him in the ribs. “Were you just going to leave him here?”

“Well.” Honestly, he hadn’t thought about it. “This is as nice a place as any.” 

Hadn’t thought about much but the way Koyama’s skin glistened when it was wet, hair sticking to his head with sweat, and the coy curl of stream rising off the surface of the spring.

“You always accuse me of thinking with my dick,” Ryo muttered, rolling on top of him, and they were too close to the wall for this, half pressed up against it, legs tangled together, and Ryo was bracing himself with his hands on Shige’s chest. Only the too-faint light from the permanent haze that covered this planet filtered all watery and pale making the shadows from Ryo’s bangs deep. “If you wanna bone him so bad, why don’t you?”

“It’s not that easy.” Shige flushed, literally caught in Ryo’s orbit.

Ryo leaned down, low over him, so the dry flutter of his lashes were just barely touching the curve of Shige’s cheek, his eyes fell closed measuring Ryo’s even breaths to help time the erratic beating of his own heart.

“If you don’t—I will.”

“You ass,” Shige hissed, feeling his pulse jump and stutter with helpless want.

\--

It was addictive, so much power and grace, all wrapped in lithe muscles, the surprising width of his shoulders. Shige knew that Ryo and him should talk a little more about this, decide on rules or _oh fuck_. Shige shuddered, digging his nails into Koyama’s shoulders. He made the most delicious sound, somewhere caught between a gasp and a whine, rubbing his swollen lips over Shige’s sore nipples.

Ryo said something, soft, and inaudible but Koyama grinned against his chest, pressing just the sharp edges of his teeth against the firmness of his breast bone.

“There is a good boy.” Ryo said, louder this time.

Shige was so hot that that he was going to just fizzle and pop, or melt away. Koyama was sprawled out across his stomach, sitting back on his thighs, the soft scrape of the coarse hairs on his thighs against Shige’s legs was distracting to say the least. Ryo was more or less behind him, exploring the planes and slopes and all the little curves of Koyama’s back with his mouth and finger tips, building himself a map. A good captain was never without a map. Get to know the terrain, it was the best way to victory.

Shige laughed a little breathlessly when Koyama’s fingers teased down his sides, then back up, smoothing under his arms, then down to his elbow on one side.

“Ticklish?” Koyama breathed, leaning forward, letting his legs slide apart and pressing with the hand trapping his bicep so not only was he rolling under Ryo like an unending wave but pressing his flushed face against Shige’s neck. He was also dragging the wet head of his dick over Shige’s thigh and that shouldn’t be as hot as it was.

“No,” Shige lied through his teeth.

Ryo’s smile was quick and amused, maybe just a touch of vicious over Koyama’s shoulder. Shige was completely willing to throw Koyama between them if it came down to it. He would call it an acceptable casualty, there was nothing sexy about being tickled. 

“I don’t know if I am, but I don’t think so.” Koyama mumbled, distracted by the ridge of Shige’s collar bone.

It was so easy when it happened, like it was meant to happen, or like Koyama was just waiting for them. For all he knew he was. Like falling off something, or the first few moments of weightlessness when it feels like the air is holding you up, the sense of vertigo as the world shifts then the rush of air. 

Shige twisted, pulling Koyama’s face in for a kiss. He learned fast, boy did he ever learn fast, licking into Shige’s mouth, and kissing him soundly. Lips and the barest hint of teeth, so soft and slick. Shige pulled him closer, riding the edge of his hip, pressing his toes into the bedding and pressing up against his weight. He could get off just like this and be perfectly fine with it, spill all over Koyama’s tan taut tummy. He seemed okay with this as well, rubbing against his thigh and making these soft desperate little sounds.

“Koyama.” Ryo whispered, and it was impossible for him to be so close without having crawled right on top of them. “C’mere.”

Shige was left panting, watching at Koyama twisted, tilting into the kiss and the angle was all wrong, Ryo trying to push himself up higher to ease the strain, and it just barely worked, mouths slotting together. Ryo’s arms were across his chest holding him tight, and Shige thumbed the edges of his narrow hips.

It was like the best kind of porno, slick lips and soft tongues. Koyama’s dick leaving a sticky trail on his own belly, chest arched back and wide open. Shige couldn’t help but thumb a nipple, watching Koyama take a sharp breath in between his teeth. The flush was spilling down his chest, warm looking, impossible to trace the edges too, but Shige was going to try anyways.

“I think I want to watch Shige fuck you.” Ryo said, pressing the words as little kisses against his shoulders, meeting Shige’s eyes with a soft smirk. Shige almost swallowed his own tongue. Koyama shivered, leaning back against Ryo’s chest.

“I want that too.” Koyama looked at him, measured, and through his bangs and between the two of them Shige was in way over his head. “Shige.”

“Hell yes.”

Koyama laughed, the edges of his eyes crinkling with the spread of his smile, and yet, Shige couldn’t find it in himself to be self conscious. Pressing his tongue to his bottom lip for a moment, Koyama looked down at him, tracing the lines of his chest with his eyes obviously. “I’ve never done this before.”

Ryo bit back a pained sound by pure force of will, scraping his teeth across the back of Koyama’s neck making his head tip to the side to give more space. Shige had to agree, pulse hammering in his ears. That shouldn’t be hot at all, but honestly, it was.

“Will you show me how?”

From the coy curve of his smile Shige knew that Koyama was mostly fucking with them, but that wasn’t the point.

“Keep that up and I will test to see if you aren’t ticklish.” Shige said and Koyama grinned at him, going willingly when Ryo shoved at his shoulder.

“Hey.” Koyama breathed, getting up in his face, so close that his features were blurry.

“Hey.” Shige answered, wrapping his arms up around his shoulders, slotting their chests together like they were meant to fit this way. He lifted his feet when Ryo got off them, because lying still too long felt weird and this was Koyama was cradled across his hips.

He knew what was coming, Koyama did too, relaxing against him, and effortlessly sinking into another kiss. Shige curled around Koyama as best he could, pushing his tongue into his mouth and feeling the flex and sway of the muscles in his back as he shifted his weight a little, looking for the perfect angle. Deep pressing kisses, Koyama trying to pull all the air from him.

He had to break it with a groan, breathing against Shige’s mouth. Shige wished he could see, instead he kissed a wet line across Koyama’s cheek to his ear. Koyama was trying to relax, thighs shifting against Shige’s hips, and small groaning sounds low in his chest.

“Does it feel good?” Shige asked, petting across the length of his side, other hand tangled in his hair and holding him near his mouth. Letting his teeth graze the soft skin a little, more of a threat then any real damage.

“Weird.” Koyama groaned, shifting a little again.

Shige knew the feeling, something pressing inside, weird and alien, slowly being pulled apart. He could see Ryo moving behind Koyama, a flash of shoulder or hair.

“Tell him.” Shige hissed and Koyama moaned, nodding slowly.

“I think I can take a little more Ryo.”

Next time Shige was going to watch, maybe he would help. Press his finger against Ryo’s and watch them both push in, opening Koyama up, getting him ready. So many possibilities.

It seemed to go on forever like this, Koyama alternating between begging sweetly, and demanding that Ryo give him more. To which of course Ryo refused, teasing him until he was breathing hard above Shige and fucking himself back on Ryo’s hand.

“Damn it, Ryo.” Shige groaned, watching the long line of Koyama’s neck work, his whole body slipping and rolling with each movement.

Koyama didn’t actually need any help from them, as soon as Ryo let go of his hips he was moving, reaching back and Shige was closing his eyes because the slide in was unbearable. Heat and pressure, and it was too perfect.

He didn’t even breathe again until Koyama was more or less sitting on him, the two of them breathing hard in tandem. He fingered the jut of Koyama’s hip, and the other man made a low questioning noise

“Wow.” Ryo breathed, and Shige opened his eyes to find Ryo kissing Koyama, soft, butterfly kisses against his mouth. “Look at you two.”

Koyama was perched above him, and Shige carefully shifted, pressing his heels down and pushing up and Koyama groaned, letting his head roll back, fingers working uselessly against his own thighs. 

“You need to help me.” Shige tugged on his hip, guiding him as he rocked forwards.

They set a rhythm quickly, Koyama driving it faster. He made these noises, porn star noises like quiet groans and half-bitten off words. Shige met him, match for match. Ryo’s hands were all over, across Koyama’s tummy, down his straining thighs, across Shige’s stomach, and up his chest. Two fingers pressed against his bottom lip, and Shige hoped to hell that it was Ryo’s other hand or he was going to kill him, but they were just tracing the edge of his lips.

Ryo was watching them, every movement, from the way Koyama’s chest heaved to the way that Shige was desperately trying to give it to him harder.

“Come on Shige, you’ve fucked me better than that.” Ryo taunted fingers tight in his hair and Shige was swearing, digging his fingers into Koyama’s hips and pulling him down against the push up. He was deep, fuck so deep and Koyama was crying out.

It was perfect but he couldn’t keep it up, Koyama’s hand moved from his knee, fingers fluttering against his own stomach like he wasn’t quite sure what to do it. He hadn’t even seen Ryo move, just one moment he was there, egging Shige on, and the next he was reaching across Koyama’s chest, tangling their fingers together so he could help. Their twined fingers slipping across his belly, wrapping around his cock.

Koyama’s mouth fell open, like he was shocked by how good it felt, eyes fluttering.

“That’s it. Are you close? You’re burning up.”

Shige had to agree, Koyama was so hot and tight inside, silky and smooth and just so incredible. He fucked up into him, Koyama getting tense, his legs almost trembling with the tightness.

“Come on.” Shige groaned. It was a matter of pride, Koyama had to come on his dick.

It was beautiful, Koyama tense, head tossed back, and shoulders jerking as he shook apart. He gasped hotly, hips jerking out of rhythm, tight movements that had him fucking his and Ryo’s fists coming all over their linked fingers and Ryo’s wrist. He gasped through it, riding down hard.

“Shit.” Shige groaned.

He was close himself, just barely holding onto the edge. Koyama began to rock his hips again, moving with Shige, rolling his hips and making these soft helpless sounds. He tried, he really did, fighting to cling to the edge. He couldn’t stop it, digging his nails into the faint curve of his hips, pulling him down and shoving up hard, trying to press as deep as possible. It fizzled through him surging down his spine, from his balls and the tips of his fingers. Everywhere at once. It seemed to go on forever and ever, he had to be losing blood or something.

For a moment they both hung there, Koyama looming over him, looking stunned, mouth parted for his quick breathing. The flush was still spilled across his space making his tan skin glow. Koyama was staring at him like he was something spectacular, and he wasn’t even the genetically altered super weapon.

“You did perfect.” Ryo said, kissing the sweaty surface of Koyama’s neck.

“Thank you.” Koyama turned, kissing Ryo, soft and lazy.

Shige felt all loose and stupid, too hot in the room that had been perfectly temperate only hours before. Ryo and Koyama were kissing, shifting around, Koyama biting down hard on Ryo’s lip when Shige slid out, he had to be a little sore. He sort of curled up around Shige’s shoulders, blinking at them.

“Think you can take a little more?” Ryo asked the dip of Shige’s stomach, looking up at him through the jagged edges of his bangs.

“Try me.”

Shige groaned, letting his legs fall apart. He was so lax that Ryo’s fingers slid in one long easy slide, Shige arching his back to keep the feeling. It felt good, perfect, his half-hard dick pulsing a little painfully, sitting wet against his stomach.

“Not going to need much.” Shige breathed around the stretch.

“Slut.” Ryo laughed, licking his lips and looking hungry for it. Koyama made a soft sound, pawing at his shoulder and uncurling a little so he could lean over Shige, getting a better look.

“Oh.” Was all he had to say about it. Shige honestly couldn’t tell what he meant by that.

Ryo twisted his fingers and Shige breathed in sharply, thighs tensing to either side of Ryo’s shoulders. “Just come on, I’m ready.”

Ryo made a rude sound, but his fingers were gone. Shige let out a slow breath, relaxing, even as he could feel the thick head of Ryo’s dick teasing him, just barely pressing in. Koyama made a low hungry sound, and Shige’s heart skipped funny. He had never thought of being watched before, but Koyama was all over him, pressing against Ryo to get a better look.

“… all wet, yes.” Ryo muttered softly, just for Koyama and Shige grit his teeth.

“Ryo,” He whined.

“Okay.” The first push in always felt like he was going to come apart, no matter how ready for it he was. Shige gripped the sheets tossing his head back against the pillow. Ryo paused, breathing hard, and Shige’s body was relaxing around it in degrees. He wanted to make some ‘is it in yet?’ joke but Ryo wasn’t giving him any more time, tossing one of his legs over his shoulder and snapping his hips.

Shige groaned, and Koyama was crawling across his chest now, making it hard to breathe, like some huge amorous cat. He couldn’t find the breath to complain, not with each jarring thrust pushing all the air right back out of his lungs as soon as he could breathe it. He couldn’t stop the soft sounds he was making, ripping from his chest without his permission. He was so sensitive from his orgasm, and Ryo wasn’t giving any mercy. Hips jerking hard against him, and the bed was actually rocking, the wooden frame hitting the wall.

Koyama was right there, long legs near his head.

“Ryo,” Shige breathed. Following one of Koyama’s thighs up until he found his skinny ass. Ryo’s eyes locked with his and Shige breathed out something that was supposed to be a word.

Koyama let out this almost wailing sound when Shige pressed his thumb against the puffy skin around his hole, slick with lube and Shige’s come. He dipped his chest, shoving up into it, pressing his face against Ryo’s stomach.

“Shit.” Ryo hissed, eyes closing, and he was leaning back, shoving up and forward and Shige couldn’t focus any more, Ryo was going to kill him with this. He couldn’t get hard again this fast, had no chance of coming, but it sure felt like he was going to try.

Ryo’s curses trailed off into a deep groan, pressing in against him and shoving Shige’s leg right into Koyama’s face, dick as deep as it could go as he came. Ryo was flushed and beautiful, watching them, Koyama shamelessly sprawled across Shige’s chest, and Shige struggling to breathe trapped between the both of them.

Maru was not pleased the next day, looking tired and grumpy. Shige hadn’t known he could even make an expression like that.

\--

Space, the final frontier and all that.

Koyama still loved the windows, sitting in the cock-pit with Tsubasa sometimes just watching space crawl by, other times just surfing the subspace network as if he could absorb all the parts of humanity he missed through it. It was those times when Shige wondered most what Koyama thought about, and when he wouldn’t shut up, spewing endless fact interrupted only by his trilling laugh. Then Shige found other ways to shut him up.

Maru took to the coding for the scrambler as soon as he was on board (‘I am not getting caught until I can kick his ass.’ ‘Get in line.’ Ryo growled back. The pair of them were only one beer away from tacking a photo of Jin to the wall and tossing knives at it), fingers skipping over the keys, like so many stones of the soft surface of a pond. Shige didn’t know the first thing about computers, but he couldn’t argue with results. Maru also took to Massu, the two of them spending hours all wrapped up in the engine room, just talking.

Sadly, Maru was also an awful cook, looking sheepish while Tsubasa complained all the way though his meals. 

The job had never been more exciting. They were on the run, doing jobs for people who either didn’t care or didn’t know, to make ends meet. All the while looking for leads, but Jin wasn’t the best hacker in the galaxy because he was easy to find. They would have more luck finding the lost Mona Lisa, people at least had a few theories as to where that went. 

That and when the anti-grav cycle kicked in the three of them could pull some serious karma sutra level kinky-stuff. Koyama was flexible like no one Shige had seen outside of a vid screen. Suffice to say they found time for smuggling between amazing sex. 

Shige wouldn’t have picked this as his life when he was in high school and they were testing his aptitude, but despite everything he was happy. Or maybe because of everything he was happy. 

“I should have asked you before I took you with me.” Shige was looking for Massu, the last brush had been close, someone who knew where they were, and they had to pull the ship to the very edges of what she could do, the lights flickering and engines screaming in the cock pit. He just wanted to make sure they didn’t break anything vital. He could hear Tsubasa’s quiet reverent mantra’s coaxing a little more out of the thrusters. 

Only Koyama and Maru were in the engine room.

“You could have been hurt today.” Koyama continued.

“I was ready to die back when I took off the inhibitors.” He admitted, and Shige shouldn’t be listening to this, but Maru never spoke with him or Ryo, preferring to the company of the hum of the engines and whatever he did in his room alone. (Shige had some theories.) 

“Why?” Koyama sounded genuinely puzzled.

“Because you were going to leave and they were going to know I did it. Because you deserve to be free.”

“So did you.” Koyama leaned against him, pressing his cheek to Maru’s small bony shoulder. “Even if it is going to kill you in the cold, dark vacuum of space. A hull breach I think, suck you right you, and your blood will boil-“

“I hate you.” Maru hissed, to the sound of Koyama laughing.

Shige had heard enough. He was going to buy Koyama something pretty at the next planet they stopped at, because people like him shouldn’t exist, and okay, he was a super freak of nature, and he also probably just shouldn’t exist at all. But he did, and he wasn’t really free because he was Shige’s, and Ryo’s. 

“No really, I hate you.”

\--

When they found Jin, only Massu wasn’t surprised when Maru shoved past Ryo, knocking him clear to the ground to punch him right in the face. Jin’s head snapped to the side, but he caught Maru’s fist on the next, much slower blow.

They froze there for a second, Maru breathing hard and looking seriously pissed, Jin’s face doing something complicated. Shige wasn’t even breathing. Ryo looked adorably disgruntled, sitting on his ass in the dusty scrubby weeds. Jin used the hold to reel Maru in, tucking his head under his chin, and his face was bruising already, bright angry red. Maru went, clinging tightly to his shirt.

“Don’t do that to me again.” The words were muffled, barely intelligible.

Jin looked at them, the rag-tag group from the end of the universe, and his smile looked almost painful.

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Because I am not chasing you anymore, it’s tiring.”

Ryo was getting to his feet, dusting his ass off. Jin tipped Maru’s head back just enough to kiss him, a soft questioning kiss which Shige didn’t expect at all from what Ryo told him about Jin. The picture Ryo painted was sleazy and with the morals of a drunk hooker.

“That’s really cute.” Koyama sighed, eyes shining.

“I think I am going to be sick.” Ryo mumbled, and Shige silently agreed with him, but he wasn’t risking Koyama’s wrath by saying it out loud.

“So now that we can never work in this star system again, what do you propose,” Maru managed to ask a few dazed moments later, his quiet voice all mellow and happy.

Jin smiled back, “Oh, I have a few ideas. Castle in the clouds... something along those lines. Koyama, you going to be ok out here in the big, wide world?”

Koyama’s grin could have rivaled the glow of a white dwarf. He wound one arm around Shige’s waist and slung the other over Ryo’s shoulders. “I’m good. They’re keeping me.”

Ryo squirmed like he didn’t like the attention and scoffed, “For _now_. We’re keeping you for now. I make no promises about the future.”

And that sounded suspiciously like something Ryo had told him years ago when he first followed his captain up the ramp into the ship he considered home.

Jin just chuckled and then Massu was leaning out of the hatch and yelling that if they didn’t get their asses in gear they would miss their next contact and someone else would get the job they were trying to line up.

They waved their goodbyes to Maru and Jin and trooped back to the ship together. There were still plenty of stars to see.


End file.
